The Jesuit religious order has paid $100,000 to a man who claimed he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at St. Ignatius Church in Sacramento more than 50 years ago.
Will Green, 61, said he was raped repeatedly by the Rev. Arthur Falvey over a period of four years, starting in 1954 when Green was 7 years old.
Falvey died in 1966.
"I had polio, and I turned to the priest for help, and this happened," said Green, who now lives in San Diego.
Falvey served at the Arden Way church from 1955 to 1961 and at Jesuit High School from 1964-1965, according to the Rev. John P. McGarry of the Jesuits of the California Province in Los Gatos.
The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento was not involved in the settlement, according to spokesman Kevin Eckery.
"We decided to settle out of a desire for closure on his part," McGarry said. "And because the allegations involved a Jesuit who has been deceased so long that we could not make any determination."
The priest was the brother of Mark Falvey, a Jesuit priest who served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and was accused of abusing 10 children over 16 years, beginning in 1959. Mark Falvey died in 1975.
The Jesuits reached a $14 million settlement in 2007 with nine men and women who allege they were abused by the Southern California priest.
Green's allegation is the only one against Arthur Falvey, according to McGarry.
Green praised church leaders who helped him deal with the abuse.
"I had left the church," Green said. "But the Jesuits helped me get therapy. They saved my life."
1 comment:
From (Rev.) Will Green, the former victim of Fr. Art Falvey, and subject of this Sacramento Bee news story on Friday June 5, 2009:
Thank you for posting this important story. I hope this story of the Falvey brothers' horrific acts,ritualistic-cult actions separately and together captures national attention and helps other victims to come forward and get the help they deserve and need.
I am writing a book "Kneel, Altar Boy, Kneel", which I anticipate will be extremely controversial, due to publish in early 2010.
I havefully recovered from the abuse, Thank God.
Interestingly, I had become a therapist specializing in incest-rape-molest issues without ever remembering my childhood and abuse.
All my adult life I had no memory of my childhood up to age 14, until 2007 when I read news accounts of the large settlement involving the name of LA rapist Fr. Mark Falvey.
Reading the name triggered a massive breakdown, and I contacted my old parish. The Jesuits had a priest with me the next day, and paid for emergency therapy and assistance immediately. They paid for long term therapy with a therapist of my choosing who saved my life.
I retained Devin Storey (Zoltan and Zimmer Del Mar,CA, and then Venus Soltan (Newport Beach CA,) well known priest abuse attorneys, and my recovery began.
I was in intense and painful therapy for a long time.
It turned out that my Pastor Fr. Art Cosgrove was aware of the activity, and caught Fr. Falvey with me. Also the two brothers Falvey performed rituals with several altar boys in robes.
This has been an incredible journey of tragedy and miracles. I am so grateful that I discovered the truth.
I had been a therapist and alcohol and drug counselor for many years, but after a serious car accident and serious head injury, I became addicted to crack cocaine at the age of 46, and became severely mentally ill and homeless, as is the pattern of many priest abuse victims. I then went through a ten year hell of drug abuse, suicide attempts and homelessness, after being famous and wealthy, not unlike many other victims.
Gratefully, that is all behind me now, and I am living a fully recovered and empowered life of service and abundance in San Diego with a great ministry in Religious Science, and a wonderful career in business.
Anyone wishing to contact me for help or speaking engagements can reach me via my website
www.eAbundance.net, or at 858 405-2206.
I also write and email a Daily motivational message the Daily IN-Spire which goes to more than 1000 people in more than 1000 countries. You can subscribe via my website or by emailing me at willjgreen@yahoo.com
I promise and offer the certain hope and inspiration that there is a great opportunity for wonderful Life after the tragedy of betrayal, rape and the horror of abuse by these horrid men of the cloth.
May God, the Force,and Life Bless you in your healing and Life and recovery.
Blessings and Love,
Rev Will Green San Diego, CA
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